2015 Chinese Zodiac: Wood Goat, Birth Dates and Meaning

Published by Anthony
on November 14, 2026

Check the 2015 Wood Goat birth dates, see why the same sign is called Sheep or Ram, and learn what the Goat’s return in 2027 means in zodiac tradition.

Quick Answer: What Is the 2015 Chinese Zodiac Sign?

The 2015 Chinese zodiac (生肖, shēngxiào) sign is the Wood Goat from February 19, 2015 through February 7, 2016, inclusive. The traditional name is Yi-Wei (乙未, Yǐ-Wèi).^[1][2]

Before February 19. January 1–February 18, 2015 belongs to the Wood Horse year.^[1]
What gives the sign its name. Yi denotes Wood. Wei is the branch associated with the Goat.^[3][4]
Goat, Sheep or Ram. The three English names refer to the same sign based on the Chinese animal name yang (羊, yáng).^[4]

The dates here follow Lunar New Year. A Four Pillars reading may instead switch years at Start of Spring (立春, Lìchūn).^[3]

2015 Wood Goat birth dates Sheep and Ram names and the 2027 Goat return

A birth certificate and a Lunar New Year decoration can give you different pieces of information. The date tells you whether your birth falls inside the lunar year. The animal on the decoration may be called a sheep or a goat even when it represents the same year as a ram on a postage stamp.

Which Dates Belong to the Wood Goat?

Gregorian date of birth	Lunar New Year sign
January 1–February 18, 2015	Wood Horse
February 19, 2015–February 7, 2016	Wood Goat
February 8–December 31, 2016	Fire Monkey

For birthdays between February 5 and 18, a solar-term Four Pillars chart and the civil calendar can disagree. Start of Spring fell on February 4, while Lunar New Year came on February 19.^[1][3]

Why Goat, Sheep and Ram Can Name the Same Year

The Chinese term yang covers animals that English names separately. In the Goat zodiac tradition, the eighth branch stays Wei whether a translator uses Goat, Sheep or Ram. Individual artworks can be more specific. A zodiac table can print Goat even when an illustration shows a ram.^[4]

The U.S. Postal Service named its 2015 issue “Year of the Ram.” Its picture is a divided candy tray used to welcome guests for the holiday. The stamp’s English title is a real example of the Ram wording, while the tray represents a New Year custom shared across animal years.^[5]

Yi-Wei and Gold in the Sand

Yi is the Heavenly Stem (天干, tiāngān) for Yin Wood (阴木, yīn mù) in Wuxing (五行, wǔxíng). Wei is the Earthly Branch (地支, dìzhī) for Goat. Their Gan-Zhi (干支, gānzhī) pairing recurs after 60 years, so the same name also belongs to the 1955 Wood Goat.^[3][6]

Gold in the Sand (沙中金, Shā Zhōng Jīn) is the Na Yin (纳音, nà yīn) name shared by Yi-Wei and the preceding Wood Horse. The word Wood comes from the year stem. Gold in the Sand comes from a traditional table of paired year names.^[6][7]

Wood Goat Associations and the 2027 Return

In popular Wood Goat profiles, the animal is associated with gentleness, imagination and attentiveness. One profile lists 2 and 7 as lucky numbers and green, red and purple as lucky colors. Animal compatibility charts often group Rabbit, Goat and Pig together and pair the Goat separately with the Horse.^[4]

The Goat returns on February 6, 2027, the opening of the Fire Goat year. For someone born in the 2015 lunar year, 2027 is the first Ben Ming Nian (本命年, běnmìngnián), or return of the birth animal. Some folk readings describe the Horse year of 2026 as supportive for the Goat and treat the return in 2027 as a time for extra care. These are ways of interpreting the animal pairings and the annual cycle.^[6][8][9]